PRODUCTS OF BEES. 17 



bee is the soldier, the policeman — in fact, a perfect vigilance 

 committee in itself. No robber dare venture to confiscate its 

 treasure ; if attempted, it is repelled with great energy. The 

 useless bees of the hive — those who, through some malformation, 

 are unable to perform their share of the work — are ruthlessly 

 cast out. Queen-cells, with their larval contents, when not 

 wanted are cut down and removed. The providing of wax for 

 comb-building is exclusively the task of the worker-bee, and is 

 principally performed by the younger members of the community. 



IV.— PRODlJCTS OF BEBS. 



30. Honey, — Honey in its crude form — nectar — is the produce 

 of flowers, and, in some few exceptional instances, notably the 

 laurels, the leaves of shrubs. In the form of nectar it is met 

 with in varying quantities in all flowers fertilised by insects, 

 and is produced by Nature as an inducement for insects to 

 visit these flowers that they may be, by their instrumentality, 

 rendered capable of the reproduction of their species. By many 

 it is supposed that, not only is the nectar produced for this 

 purpose, but also for nourishing the young seeds in their early 

 growth. The ground for this supposition lies in the fact that 

 many flowers produce nectar even after they have been properly 

 fertilised ; whether such is the case it would be foreign to this 

 work to endeavour to substantiate. The nectar in the flowers, 

 before being gathered by the bees, is of a very thin consistency, 

 being largely charged with water ; this is separated by the bee as 

 alluded to before ; it is then placed in the cells, and, after being 

 evaporated by the heat of the hive, is sealed over, and is 

 then called by bee-keepers, " ripe." A large proportion of the 

 honey is fed to the larvae in its unevaporated form, after being 

 mixed with a certain proportion of pollen (bee-bread). It will be 

 noticed by this that during the honey season less water is con- 

 sumed by the bees, on account of the quantity already contained 

 in the honey ; hence, bees require less water provided for them at 

 this season, in comparison to the quantity required in early spring, 

 as then old, evaporated honey, is only obtainable by them. 



31. Wax. — Another product of the bees, second 

 only in importance to honey, is wax. This is a 

 solid, fat-like material, produced in the form of 

 scales, in what are termed wax-pockets ; these 

 pockets are receptacles under the abdomen of the 

 bee ; there are four on each side. When combs 

 are required to be built, the bees hang in festoons 

 from the point where the comb is to be attached. Abdomen of 

 thus forming a plumb-line with their own bodies, VJorker, showing 

 from which to build their comb quite perpendicular. Wax-pockefsand 

 While hanging thus, the secretion of the wax (p./ t 

 takes place in the pockets ; it is then removed by ^ "I'S^")- 



c 



